Young Students’Informal Statistical Knowledge

This article reports some results of an informal study of very young children's reactions to some visual displays of data.     

Citizenship and enterprise: issues from an investigation of teachers' perceptions in England and Hungary

We explore the perceptions of teachers concerning citizenship and enterprise in Hungary and England. Contextual matters are described and research methods outlined prior to a discussion of emerging issues. We argue that citizenship in both countries is understood broadly in terms of what it means to be human. The English teachers emphasized community issues and being socially active more often than those in Hungary. Hungarian teachers were less positive about state and civil society and more patriotic about their country. In both countries those in provincial towns (rather than those in capital cities) suggested a belief in the need for a greater adherence to rules. There was greater enthusiasm for citizenship education in primary rather than secondary schools in both countries. All teachers seemed wary about a form of enterprise education that relates directly to the economy and this was especially true for the Hungarian sample. Teachers in both countries, while recognizing the current emphasis on competition between and within schools, tended to characterize citizenship education as a constructive social enterprise (rather than an economic enterprise), in which young people are encouraged to explore problems and develop their initiative and capacity for action. All teachers favoured a collaborative and broad‐based pedagogical approach in which young people are allowed to explore social and political issues through dilemmas.     

Is There a Role for Microteaching in the 1990s?

Microteaching, once considered a major advance in teacher education, has largely fallen from favour. The reasons why this has occurred are considered here. The approaches adopted in recent research to establish successful skill development, durability, generalization and transfer are examined, and the importance of self‐instruction strategy and problem‐solving components is highlighted. Problems associated with teaching‐skill development in the natural classroom are explored. Advances in microteaching research and technology and the problems encountered in teaching‐skill development in the natural classroom together provide good reasons for the serious re‐deployment of microteaching processes in teaching‐skill development. A case study is used to illustrate the ways in which microteaching processes may be employed with modem video technology. It is concluded that the two empirically validated microteaching models possess elements which reflect a number of current research concerns and that they have the potential to produce more thoughtful, critical and skilled teachers.     

Exploring Visual Displays involving Beanie Baby Data

This article describes the learning experiences of young children meeting stem-and-leaf plots for the first time.